Although police Chief David Kimaiyo had dismissed it as simple incident caused by a falling bulb, Interior Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo said they were keen to establish if it was terror-related.
“We are having a meeting with the Inspector General and all security personnel to get the actual facts into the incident that occurred at the airport,” Iringo said on Friday.
“However, it could be an incident related to terrorism but that can only be confirmed after the investigations are finalised,” explained Iringo.
Capital FM News learnt that police are investigating if the death of a man, whose body was discovered in a car within Shauri Moyo Estate, was connected to the incident.
The man’s body was found in the back of a car which is reported to have been seen racing from the airport, moments after the loose light bulb fell into a dustbin causing panic.
The panic has spread to the international community, with Britain’s Foreign Office having already updated its travel warning to Kenya over incident.
On Thursday night Kimaiyo tweeted: “It was not a blast at JKIA but some papers caught fire after a loose light bulb fell into a dustbin that caused panic at Java coffee shop”
Although no casualties were reported, investigators from various police units, including bomb experts were called to probe the matter.
Police officers who spoke to Capital FM News on Friday said the death of the man and the explosion had caused alarm within security quarters.
“It is not a matter that is being taken lightly until an investigation is complete. As of now, we are keen to establish if the two incidents are connected or just coincidental,” one detective said.
The incident comes after the August fire incident that razed a large section of the airport, in what was blamed on an electric fault.
The government announced soon after that tight security measures had been put in place at the airport, which is East Africa’s main travel hub.